The American Studies Association, which has 5,000 members, cites ‘Israel’s violation of international law and UN resolutions’ among reasons for boycott of Israeli academic institutions. ADL slams the move as shameful and morally bankrupt.

The American Studies Association’s membership has voted decisively in favor of an academic boycott on Israel, the association announced Monday.

The organization said that 1,252 of its approximately 5,000 members had cast electronic ballots over the last several days, a rate of participation it termed an all-time high. Of these, 66 percent supported the boycott motion, which was approved unanimously by the ASA’s national council 10 days ago. The supporters included several Jewish scholars.

The decision made ASA the largest American academic organization thus far to support an anti-Israel boycott.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the ASA’s decision, calling it a “shameful, morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest attack on academic freedom.”